EastEnders legend Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) is finally back in Walford after being detained by police on the way home.
Lauren was horrified when border security found drugs in her bag and insisted that she didn’t know how they got their.
Viewers soon discovered that she was telling the truth, and that it was actually her cousin Penny Branning (Kitty Castledine) who had put them there.
In more recent scenes, Lauren was finally released after Penny came clean and struck up a deal with police on dad Jack Branning’s (Scott Maslen) instruction.
Lauren was understandably desperate to see son Louie, and wasted no time in heading over to No.45 where he was staying with dad Peter Beale (Thomas Law).
Though Lauren wasn’t keen on the idea of sticking around, Louie and Peter were eager to spend more time together, and soon Lauren and Peter sat down for a chat, during which he managed to convince her to stay.
However, their bliss didn’t last for long, as Lauren soon discovered Penny’s involvement in her arrest.
Furious, Lauren headed straight round to vent to Peter, only to be caught off guard by the discovery that he too knew what Penny had done, and had chosen not to tell her.
Peter and Penny’s betrayal made up Lauren’s mind about going away, and she admitted to Peter that she didn’t have anything left to stay for.
As she prepared to leave, she bumped into Whitney Dean and Sonia Fowler (Shona McGarty and Natalie Cassidy), where she explained that she was haunted by memories in Albert Square.
When Whitney revealed that without sister Abi around, she had nothing keeping her in Walford, Sonia decided to tell her about Annie, despite having already promised Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) that she wouldn’t.
Viewers will know that Annie is the daughter of Linda and Max Branning, making her Lauren’s half sister.
As Lauren’s taxi began to pull out of the Square, Sonia stopped it, and announced that Lauren had another sister on the Square.
Will that be enough to convince Lauren to stay?
